Welcome back, Messrs Lewandowski, Messi, Mbappe, Salah and Haaland!
The start of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League (UCL) group stage is nearly here – and the official Fantasy game for Europe’s premier club competition is now live (official game app here).
There are some incredible prizes on offer in this free-to-play Fantasy game, from UEFA Champions League final tickets to Playstation 5s and replica shirts.
You can launch in right now to start your team tinkering, and unlimited transfers are allowed before play starts.
SIGN UP TO PLAY UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FANTASY HERE
We’ll be bringing you a lot more content on this game from now until Matchday 1 on Tuesday, as well as regular articles throughout the season.
In this introductory piece, we’ll talk you through the basics of the game.
BRIEF RULES
To summarise the game in one sentence: UCL Fantasy managers get €100m to spend on a squad of 15 players, who earn points based on their on-field performances in the Champions League.
Anyone who has played Fantasy Premier League will have no trouble in picking the game up, as many of the rules are exactly the same or very similar:
- An initial budget of €100m (which rises to €105m from the last 16 onwards)
- Pick a squad of 15 players
- No more than three players from each club (that threshold rises once the knockout stages begin)
- Select a starting XI in a valid formation for every ‘matchday’ (the UCL equivalent of a ‘Gameweek’, which incorporates both the Tuesday and Wednesday fixtures)
- Select a captain who earns double points
- Make free transfers between matchdays
Those are the fundamentals but there are one or two quirks of the game that require a bit of explaining, which we will cover below.
SUBSTITUTIONS
If you prefer the hands-off approach to Fantasy management, auto-subs occur if any of your starting XI fail to feature and there is a playing substitute on your bench – providing that player doesn’t break the formation rules (a minimum of three defenders, two midfielders and one forward).
Where UCL Fantasy differs is that it also gives managers the chance to make manual substitutions instead.
After all matches on a single day (eg Tuesday) have finished and before the next matches within that matchday kick off (eg Wednesday), UCL Fantasy managers can:
- Replace a maximum of four players (unless they have been sent off), with any of their substitutes whose teams are yet to play within the matchday.
- Change their captain to another player from their squad whose team is yet to play. The original captain’s double points will be lost and the new captain’s score for that matchday will be doubled.
As an example, say you have selected Kevin De Bruyne (€10.5m) for Manchester City’s Matchday 1 clash with Sevilla on Tuesday 6 September.
If the City midfielder fails to feature or returns a middling score of, say, two points, you can then replace him with one of your substitutes who is in action on Wednesday 7 September.
TRANSFERS
As we mentioned earlier, free transfers are allowed between matchdays.
Like in Fantasy Premier League, UCL Fantasy managers can roll a maximum of one free transfer – although only in the group stage.
For every transaction you make beyond your quota of free transfers, you’ll take a hit of four points.
The below table details how many moves are allowed at each stage of the competition:
| Phase | Number of free transfers |
| Before the group stage begins | Unlimited |
| Matchday 1–6 | 2 per matchday |
| Between Matchday 6 and round of 16 1st leg | Unlimited |
| Before round of 16 2nd leg | 3 |
| Before quarter-final 1st leg | 5 |
| Before quarter-final 2nd leg | 3 |
| Before semi-final 1st leg | 5 |
| Before semi-final 2nd leg | 3 |
| Before final | 5 |
CHIPS
There are two chips available to UCL Fantasy managers: Wildcard and Limitless.
These chips can be used only once per season and, once played, can’t be cancelled.
Wildcard
As in FPL, the Wildcard gives you the chance to change your squad as much as you like. When you play it you can make free unlimited transfers and any players you transfer in will stay in your squad once that matchday has finished.
Limitless
Limitless is the equivalent of FPL’s Free Hit chip and gives managers the chance to change their squad for one matchday only.
Once the matchday has finished, your squad will return to how it was before you played the Limitless chip.
Rather excitingly, there are no budget restrictions when activating Limitless – so, should you wish, you can pack your squad with the most expensive assets in the game.
SCORING SYSTEM
Again, the scoring system is a very familiar one.
Most of the player actions and the points on offer tally with FPL, although there are one or two notable differences.
A goal scored from outside the box gets an additional point, for example, while the acts of winning and conceding a penalty are rewarded and punished respectively.
Players also gain points through ball recoveries, which gives the more defensive-minded players a chance to rack up a tidy score.
Over 40% of Jorginho‘s (€6.0m) 2020/21 points total in UCL Fantasy was made up by recoveries, for example.
| Action | Points |
| All players | |
| Appearance | 1 |
| Playing at least 60 minutes (includes points mentioned above) | 2 |
| Goals scored from outside the box (in addition to points for scoring) | 1 |
| Assist | 3 |
| Every three balls recovered | 1 |
| Winning a penalty | 2 |
| Conceding a penalty | -1 |
| Missing a penalty | -2 |
| Yellow card | -1 |
| Red card (includes yellow card deduction) | -3 |
| Scoring an own goal | -2 |
| Player of the Match award | 3 |
| Goalkeepers | |
| Scoring a goal | 6 |
| Saving a penalty | 5 |
| Keeping a clean sheet (must play at least 60 minutes) | 4 |
| For every three saves | 1 |
| For every two goals conceded | -1 |
| Defenders | |
| Scoring a goal | 6 |
| Keeping a clean sheet (must play at least 60 minutes) | 4 |
| For every two goals conceded | -1 |
| Midfielders | |
| Scoring a goal | 5 |
| Keeping a clean sheet (must play at least 60 minutes) | 1 |
| Forwards | |
| Scoring a goal | 4 |
JOIN OUR MINI-LEAGUE
There are two types of league in UCL Fantasy: Private and Global.
Private leagues
Private leagues give you the chance to battle for bragging rights among your friends, family and colleagues.
To create a league, go to ‘Leagues’ and select ‘Create a league’. Then invite others to join by sharing the league code.
You can also reactivate your leagues from previous seasons in the ‘Leagues’ section.
We have set up our own mini-league, the details of which are below.
JOIN THE FANTASY FOOTBALL SCOUT MINI-LEAGUE HERE
Enter the following code: 75L4Q5EA10
Global leagues
Your team will be automatically included in the following leagues:
- The overall leaderboard with all other players around the world
- A league with other players from your country
- A league with other players who support the same Champions League team as you
MAIN GAME PRIZES
In the main UCL Fantasy game, prizes are awarded after every matchday, after the group stage, after the knockout stages and after the final.
Tickets for the UEFA Champions League final and a Playstation 5 console are up for grabs, with a full breakdown available in the ‘Prizes’ tab on the game’s website.
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